Box-lid support.



PATENTED' SEPT. 22, 1903'.

J. c. 'H TGH. BOX LID SUPPORT.

PPLIOATIOK FILED GOT. 9, 1902.

UNITED STATES Patented September 22, 190%,

ATENT FFlCE.

JAMES o. HATCH, or GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

BOX-LID SUPPORT.

SEEGIFIGATION'fox-ming part Of Letters Patent No. 739,544, dated September 22,1903.

Application filed October 9, 1902 Serial Ho. 126,523. (No model-3 To ctZZ- whont it may concern I Be it known that I, JAMES C. HATCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Box-Lid Supports,of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to a box-lid support for use in holding a lid in an open condition,

so as to display to prospective purchasers the contents of Sheba box, and one use of the invention is in connection with cigar-boxes, and the device maybe applied to such a box by the makers of the cigars.

The improved article is-simple, easy to apply and remove, and as it can be inexpensively made its attachment by cigar manufacturers to boxes containing their goods adds but a trifle to the cost of the same. By means of the device the lid of a box can be held at desired angles or can be freely closed. The said device may be made from any suitable material-for example, thin sheet metal, as this can be readily formed into the desired shape, and in practice I have found tin a satisfactory material from which to maketh'e same. The latter is made from a strip of material of the desired kind, saidstrip being bent on itself near its ends to form inwardlyextending arms, which with the body of said strip are adapted to clasp a box-lid upon its opposite edges and to slide along the same, and each arm in turn is bent on itself to form depending branches or extensions to abut against the outer face of the box-body, thereby to hold the lid open. The angularity of the lid with respect to said body can be varied by bending said branches inwardly or outwardly,as the case may be. Cards, labels, or like advertising matter can be effectively held between the body of the strip and the box-lid, it being understood that the said strip extends entirely across the inner face of the box-lid.

The invention in one simple embodiment thereof is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a box, showing my improved lid -support attached thereto and the box-lid open or up. Fig. 2 is a similar View, the lid being shown as closed or down. Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective of the support detached from the box.

Like characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

I provide a device for holding the lid of a box up and at a desired angle to the body thereof in order to display the merchandise in said box, and the device maybe made of any material that can be readily bent to the desired form, tin having been found a satisfactory medium for this purpose. Said device consists of a single strip 5 bent near its ends inwardly to form the arms 6, the said arms and the body of the strip being adapted to engage the lid 7 of a box at the opposite edges of said lid. The arms 6 are separated from said body of the strip a distance sufficient to permit the free sliding of the article along the lid. It will be seen that the body of the strip 5 extends entirely across the inner face of the lid 7, so that cards or like advertising matter can be easily inserted between the same, or such advertising matter may be placed or imprinted directly upon the outer face of said strip. As the device can be inexpensively made, it can be attached to a box of cigars-for example, by the maker of said cigars and when it is initially applied it occupies aplace about midway of the depth of the lid, and as it is made from thin material it does not interfere with the proper closing of said lid. The arms 6 are bent or doubled on themselves at 8 to form the lateral branches or extensions 9, which, it will be observed, are located approximately at right angles to the body of the strip and which are flattened against said arms. After a box is opened by a merchant he will slide,

the support along the lid 7 toward and substantially to the hinge-line of said lid, so that when the lid is opened the free ends of the said branches 8, which depend from the arms 5, will strike the outer face of the box-body,

and thereby hold the lid in an open position nearly at a right angle to said box-body. This angle may of course be changed by bonding the branches 8 to the desired extent, or the same result can be obtained by moving the device along the'lid, so as to vary the distance that the branches 8 overlap the boxbody. The arms 6 are bent upon themselves on their inner faces to form the branches 8,

ICO

by reason of which said branches cannot be separated from said arms when the device is in use by pressure applied to the former.

The improved article is simple, efiective,

the adjacent portion of the strip being adapted to engage the opposite ends of said lid,

each arm being bent upon itself on the inner face thereof to form a depending branch adapted to engage the body of the box and the space-between said strip and the lid being adapted to receive advertising-cards or the like.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES C. HATCH.

Witnesses:

FRED M. RAYMOND, REUBEN HATCH. 

